Buildings that take their shapes from pottery: it’s a trend that we’re quickly becoming suspicious of. The biggest offenders seem to be in China, where these multi-million dollar gimmicks are erected with alarming frequency. The buildings don’t recall pottery, they literally look like large pots. That’s all. It’s getting very tacky, very quickly.
So our hackles rose when we heard of yet another pottery-themed building, this time in Poland. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the designers, Bakpak and EovaStudio brought something to the concept that had been missing from every similar building we’ve seen so far: restraint. Their multifunction building, The Pottery Courtyard, in Rzeszow brings up associations with regional ceramic art without beating us over the head with it. The project won a design competition this year
Click to see a larger image.
From Bakpak:
The process of creating pottery influenced the decision of the shape of the building on the outside and inside thanks to the possibility of cutting, carving and turning on the potter’s wheel. Thus arose the idea for a project at work with clay. We want a building carved in the ground with a huge surprise inside.
The Pottery Courtyard is considered a public place. It will be entirely pedestrian and directly communicated with the Old Market. Bearing in mind the flow of people from the Market Square, the main entrance of the courtyard it is designed as a powerful open, inviting passers to get into.
The proposed building is seven floors above ground level and has three floors underground. The program consist in commercial areas in basement and ground floor, hotel along the three first floors and housing and social club with a restaurant for the rest of them.
Congratulations to the designers for breathing new life into a trend we were all but ready to bury a week ago.
Bill Rodgers is the General Editor of CFile.
Love contemporary ceramic art + design? Let us know in the comments.
Click to see a larger image.
Click to see a larger image.
Renderings and models courtesy of the designers.
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